The Central Alberta Fly Tying Club meets during winter months. Weekly tying sessions begin at 6:30pm. Call Bob Vanderwater 403. 347. 3802 or email rdvanderwater@gmail.com
Todd Oishi's Vampire Leech is a winner in most stillwaters. I do like larger balanced Vampire Leeches but I have added Mini Vampire Leeches to my array of micro leeches. If I am fishing with two flies. I will often add a mini vampire leech as a dropper. I have been pleasantly surprised to their effectiveness. Of course you can tie them with head turner beads (you can get them at Canadian Llama) or balanced. Try size 12 jig hooks with a chartreuse head turner or tungsten bead (use a sequin pin). The short video below shows how to tie them!
Blobs! Whether you love them or hate them, they just plain work! I always have a large selection of blobs along on all stillwater fly fishing trips. In the past year, I have added these 4 colours. I am surprised at how trout respond to blobs. They could represent a lot of food items although daphnia is the main item. I was quite surprised to find out that lake trout love them like being at a candy store. I have no idea why! Ha!
Bloodworms are an essential part of the diet of many fish in Central Alberta and many other places as well. This simple bloodworm pattern has been my go to for several years. yes you can add a marabou tail or make the body with seal dubbing (they definitely work) but a simple thread blood worm or add scud back makes a very effective fly. They take just a few minutes to tie too! Sweet!
These simple flies have saved a day out on several trout lakes and whitefish love them! Be sure to fish these flies as close to the bottom as possible. Use forceps or a weight to measure depth, then adjust your strike indicator so the fly is 6-12 inches above the bottom of the lake. If the water temperature is below 60F, start fly fishing in 7-10 feet of water! If it is warmer, look for a drop off and try 12 feet of water!
If you fly fish at Kerbe's Pond, Hansons, Dickson and Sylvan Lake; you definitely need to have ice minnows in your fly box. I came across this pattern while fly fishing in Manitoba. The brown trout and rainbows would cruise along the edges of the weeds and devour the forage fish! I have had excellent success at Kerbe's Pond out east of Red Deer. Kerbes is all about forage along the edges. I sometimes have an ice minnow just 18 inches below an indicator long the edges. Definitely any place that has forage that fish will feed off of, these simple flies are an asset!
Ice Minnow
Hook: Jig hook, pin and tungsten bead or jig and head turner bead- Size 12-16
Rick Miyauchi came up with the fly called Kismit! The word kismit means fate or destiny! Honestly it refers to something that feels predetermined. All of this is relevant to its name. This is a straight forward fly to tie either with either an orange bead or a gold bead. The day the fly got its name, a big group of us were at Twin Lakes in Manitoba fly fishing for tiger trout! This fly at this point was nameless although everyone at the lake was using it, including the originator, Rick! Everyone was having an outstanding day catching sizeable tigers except Rick. He could not get a hit even though the other two in his boat were connecting right beside him. Well, it was quite funny and then the word kismit was suggested as the name for the fly and it stuck! Poor Rick!
Early in the season, Kismit with an orange bead is an excellent choice and later change to a gold beaded Kismit!
...and then there is the Bubba Gump Shrimp
The Bubba Gump Shrimp has a hot spot. It is tied very similar to Kismit except for the orange brill added as a hot spot. For some reason, the trout respond very favourably when they are on shrimp. I like to tie Bubba Gump Shrimp on a size 16 jig hook. It is a suggestive pattern that shines when the trout are on scuds.
Kismit (Rick Miyauchi originator)
Hook: Size 14 jig hook, pin and tungsten bead or use a head turner tungsten bead
Thread: Olive 8/0
Tail: Black Marabou
Body: olive-brown brill, 5 mm
Bubba Gump Shrimp (Bob Vanderwater originator)
Hook: Size 16 jig, pin and tungsten bead or use a tungsten head turner bead
Thread: Olive
Tail: Black marabou (or olive)
Body: Olive 9 or brown olive with an orange brill hot spot (5 mm)
Happy Easter Everyone! Karen and I were able to get out to West Lake, aka The Habitat Land at the Fish and Game Club! We started off planning to just walk but we decided to fly fish off of the dock to see what was up. Adam and Hal were also out there with their pontoon boats having a great time.
We were in to it right away. The lake level is low and the water was churned up from the wind. We rigged up with 2-size 14 Glenn's Leeches and never changed. We indicator fished but only 3-4 down! We caught lots of fall stockers and a half dozen nicer rainbows. It was a fun 2.5 hours on a rare warm Easter Friday evening.
...oh yes, about that walk, that would have to wait!
The Tokaryk Special 2.0 has been a staple of mine for over 10 years. It's evolution from Mark Olinger's original has allowed it to be tied as both a streamer and a balanced fly. I love to fly fish with Tokaryks along edges and weed lines. Trout respond in a positive way to this great fly! You can tie this fly with head turner beads on a jig hook, as a traditional balanced fly or on your favourite streamer hook!
Tokaryk Special 2.0
Hook: Jig Hook ( I love size 10-12)
Thread: Olive 8/0
Tail Marabou
Body: Peacock Hares Ear Ice Dub
Bead: Head Turner or tungsten (this version has a 1/8th gold bead)
My buddy Steve Andersen and I had an amazing day at Patterson Lake fly fishing with Tokaryks along the edges. Take a look!
